Whether or not you plead guilty may be the most life-changing decision you ever make. It is critical to be informed by an experienced criminal lawyer about your avenues of defence before you plead guilty. This does not mean that you should talk to your “friend “who has been through it before. A good friend will refer you to the best criminal lawyer they know.
Expert knowledge and experience are necessary to determine whether you have defences to your case. Many believe their case is open and shut, only to realize they have strong defences. There is some truth to the old saying:
“it’s not what you did; it’s what you can prove.”
As a Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Justice once said:
“There are also many cases where the strength of the Crown’s case appears, at the pre-trial stage, to be overwhelming only to have it unravel as the trial progresses.”
Unless you talk to a good lawyer, you may give up good defences and high prospects of success.
Many criminal defences have nothing to do with what you did or did not do. In many cases, guilt or innocence will hinge on what the police did or didn’t do. For example, you may have been found in a house or vehicle near substantial quantities of drugs or perhaps a firearm. The odds of you having a defence that you did not know about the item are low.
However, there may be issues with:
- How did the police get into the house or vehicle?
- Did they have a warrant? Was that one good?
- Did they use excessive force in entering the house? Or arresting you?
These factors may lead to the evidence and, ultimately, the charge being “thrown out.”
Unless you talk to a top criminal defence lawyer in your area who has experience beating criminal charges, you may forgo viable procedural defences. For example, every person accused of a criminal offence has the right to full disclosure and the right to be tried within a reasonable time. Sometimes, disclosure is destroyed or goes missing. Sometimes, a trial can take too long due to factors outside the control of the accused. Sean Fagan has beaten serious criminal charges on both issues.
The bottom line is that you should talk to the best lawyer you can afford before deciding to plead guilty. Pleading guilty can have significant adverse consequences on your life, including but not limited to:
- Immigration consequences. There have been cases where a permanent resident who has lived in Canada since they were five years old has been deported back to a country that they haven’t seen since they were an infant and did not speak the language because they incurred a criminal record. Even if you are a Canadian citizen, you can experience negative immigration consequences. For example, you are likely to have difficulty travelling to and from the United States of America – you can kiss Disney and Las Vegas goodbye if you receive a conviction for drug trafficking.
- Divorce and child custody consequences. Family law court may consider whether you pleaded guilty to an offence when deciding whether to grant you custody of your children.
- Employment consequences. You may be terminated from your job if you plead guilty to an offence. You may also experience collateral consequences with obtaining a new job.
- How the police treat you. Almost all police forces equip their police officers with patrol cars with computers. When you are pulled over, the police search you in the computer database system using your license plate or driver’s license. When they search you on that database system, and your name comes back for a criminal record, you can expect to be treated with additional suspicion and often less respect.
Talk to a lawyer, no matter what you think about the strength of the prosecutor’s case against you. Sean Fagan typically provides no-fee initial consultations.